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Whisky Review: Centennial 10Year Old Canadian Rye Whisky

My Goodness. It is been barely 7 weeks and I am publishing my Fiftieth Review. Of course, this doesn’t mean I have consumed 50 bottles of Rum and Whisky in seven weeks, nor does it mean I have sampled 50 different bottles. You see, when I opened this site I already had a variety of reviews complete and published elsewhere. About twenty on the Ministry of Rum, three or four on Rum Connection, and about three whisky reviews on Refined Vices. As well I had written about ten whisky reviews which had never been published, as well as one tequila review, and four or five rum reviews. So the table was set seven weeks ago with almost forty reviews complete before I began my trip into the blogosphere.

I should also note, that long before I ever wrote my first full review; I was putting my thoughts onto paper, and keeping a catalog of my scores for various whiskies, (and some rums) in my handy dandy notebook. I started doing this shortly after I bought my first copy of Jim Murray’s 2007 Whiskey Bible. In fact I consider my writing to be largely influenced by Jim Murray and his writing. He is without a doubt, the best of the best when it comes to writing about whisky and probably spirits in general.

I still have all of those notes, which I refer to constantly, as I write new reviews, so in a way it has been relatively easy to reach my fiftieth review milestone.

So why did I choose a relatively obscure Canadian Rye whisky to review for the big Five Zero. Simple, it was next in line. You see I try not to play favourites; I try not to display any bias when I write a review. Choosing a particular distillery, or a particular spirit and claim it worthy of this milestone might just be the wrong way to present information that is meant to be impartial.

Not that Centennial 10Year Old Canadian Rye Whisky is in any way an inferior spirit. It happens to be very very good. A true Canadian Rye whisky, but one with with a very interesting twist. Centennial Rye Whisky, rather than having corn in the mash bill with the rye, uses Canadian soft Winter Wheat with the rye grain in the mash bill. This gives the Centennial a smooth and soft flavour profile unlike any rye whisky I have encountered. Using grains grown exclusively on the Canadian prairies, distilling the grain in my home Province of Alberta, and aging the spirit in the severe Western Canadian climate for a minimum of ten years, means Centennial is a Rye Whisky unlike any other in the world. Not bad for an obscure Canadian rye whisky, made in a relatively unknown Canadian distillery, Highwood Distillers.

George S. Wattssaid

You really seem to be taking to this whisky in a big way. Later this week I will be publishing my experiences at a recent tour of the Highwood Distillery, when I will reveal exactly how this whisky is made.